ETV that the UK is experiencing a participation crisis

Question 1

What are your para headings?
L.O.A.?

Answer 1

1. Formal
2. Informal physical
3. Informal online
   L.O.A. = No, not a crisis

Question 2

Define participation crisis

Answer 2

large proportion of the population doesnt engage with the political process

Question 3

PARA 1

Formal

Answer 3

Voting in elections, party membership

NO:
* turnout is high in many constituencies: 2024- Harpenden & Berkhamsted = 75%, Stroud = 71%
* when voters feel passionate about topic (e.g. Brexit turnout = 72%) turnight high > meaningful participation with strong opinions backing it, rather than voting for the sake of it
* 84.6% turnout at the Scottish referendum > huge appetite for politics
* although membership has dropped it is still a very present topic and valued
* no uniformly recognised definition of membership, nor is there an established method or body to monitor it
* membership offers commitment and more active participation as people engage and are more incentivised to vote

COUNTER:
* low turnout > 40% in 2021 LDN mayoral election, 2019 General Election was 67.3%, a significant drop from 84% in 1950
* fall in membership (since 1950s) > fell 65% from 1983 (4 per cent of electorate) to 2005 (1.3 per cent).
–In 2022, 1.5% of the British electorate were members of the Conservative Party, Labour Party, or the Liberal Democrats.

Question 4

PARA 2

Informal physical

Answer 4

Protests, PGs, lobbyists, think tanks

NO:
* Increasing participation in protests > Extinction Rebellion and the Black Lives Matter protests > people are engaging with political issues in physical, non-electoral ways.
* political participation and a general interest in politics is not declining as statistics might suggest BUT the nature of interest and participation is changing.
* large numbers of non-voters and apparently disillusioned non-participants (concentrated among the young) have shifted their political awareness away from party politics in favour of specific political issues > pressure groups provide a more appropriate vehicle for such interest than do parties > concern for environmental issues has increased as membership of parties has declined (in 2019 27% environment most important issue)
* The RSPB, with over 1 million members, has a membership larger than the combined memberships of the main three parties
* the appeal of ‘new politics’, greater political activism, grassroot participation (collective action from volunteers at local level to implement change locally, regionally, nationally or internationally)
* CND, the 1990 anti-poll tax riots, anti-globalization demonstrations in Seattle (1999), London (2000) and Genoa (2001) and student protest in 2010 against university tuition fees

COUNTER:
* focus on more specific issues > doesn’t necessarily apply to all and deters many from those areas of participation e.g. BMA is going to resonate with healthworkers/ doctors, NUT (National Union of Teachers) will resonate with teachers and education careers
* Think tanks = often perceived by the public as part of the political establishment, a remote elite that is inaccessible to normal citizens > may contribute to a sense of disenfranchisement from the political process > declining trust in the democratic system

Question 5

Informal online

Answer 5

e-petitions, social media
NO:
* 77% believe that social media is effective at raising public awareness about politicla/ social issues
* 65% believe social media effective at changing peoples minds about pol or social issues
* As of the 2019 General Election, there had been nearly 23 million unique validated signatures since the formation of the e-petitions site in 2015. This is equivalent to almost 35% of the UK.
* e-petition requires a Government response from the relevant department if it reaches 10,000 signatures, e-petition that has not reached 100,000 signatures may also be considered for a debate if the Petitions Committee see fit
* 2017-19 Parliament was: “Revoke Article 50 and remain in the EU.” = signed by over 6.1 million people

COUNTER:
* clicktivism: little effort or commitment > issue of legitimacy, MPs complain that it is not possible to deal with the “spam”, volume of unsolicited phone calls and emails they receive
* could form a lack of deeper engagemnt
* do they actually make a difference?
* 2017-19: 33,000 e-petitions submitted and 25,000 rejected, 456 received gov response and 74 debated in Westminster Hall